Temple
Temple of Apollo at Cornith
Corinth was an extremely
wealthy city, owing its wealth to its position on the Isthmus of Corinth, which meant it had a port on both the Aegean
Sea and the Ionian Sea.
The temple was built
in the Doric style. It had 6 columns at each end, and 15 along each side. It
was 174 feet long and 70 feet wide.The Doric columns are
monolithic, that is, made from single pieces of stone. The stone used was
limestone, and had a surface of white marble stucco applied to it. Each of the
columns is over 23 feet high, and at the base has a diameter of 5
feet 8 inches. Seven of these columns remain standing, with a section of the
entablature intact resting on the tops of the columns. The inner building
comprised two rooms or cellas, placed back to back. Each of these cellas was
entered by a porch, each with two columns in front of them. Inside the cellas
were two rows of smaller columns. According to the Greek
traveler Pausanias, there was a bronze statue of Apollo in the Temple. In the Greek
period large steps to the east of the temple led down to the Lechaion Way and
to the entrance to the agora.
The temple was built on the site of an earlier
seventh century B.C. temple, some remains of which have been excavated from the area of Temple Hill. In the Roman period, the interior colonnades were removed from the
cellas of the structure and the columns were reused in the exterior colonnade
at the west end of the forum to the northwest of the South Stoa. In the first
century A.D. Roman stoas were built on two sides of the temple to the south and
north. In the Roman period, the main entrance of the temple was changed from an
easterly to a westerly approach.
The Temple of Apollo in Corinth, one of the oldest stone temples
in Greece, was completed in 550 B.C. Only seven of its 38 limestone columns
remain.
It's impossible
to miss the Temple of Apollo. It dominates the whole area of archaeology which
is ancient Corinth. With new lighting since January 2013 you can now be
awed after dark as well.The remains of the temple lie on a terrace which is on the
highest part of the city. From here there are wonderful views, extending as far
as the Gulf of Corinth. It's a spot from which to take photos, and to
get an overall view of the extent of the ancient city of Corinth.
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